Search and Rescue Tag
by sashicat
Summary: AU to some existing scenes, some missing scenes. John hurt/comfort. What else would it be? Mild John/Teyla.


_This is alternative view of existing scenes and missing scenes for "Search and Rescue". I apologize for not taking the time to transcribe all of the dialogue exactly. I cheated a little. This is hurt/comfort for John. (What else could it be?) Hope you enjoy._

Dirt fell around him and clouds of dust choked him as he drew a painful breath. But John hardly noticed as he focused on the sounds above him. The sounds of digging.

"Finally! he thought, "Finally they had come for him"

Hours ago, how many, he had no way to judge, he had convinced Ronon to go for help. And now, Ronon had done it. He had brought back help.

More dirt fell and John had to duck his head as it showered down directly on him. There were muffled voices, the scraping of concrete against concrete, and suddenly a shaft of light shown down as the rescuers broke through at last.

After many hours in the semi darkness, he squinted against the light. Shielding his eyes he looked up in relief, but was unable to make out the faces.

"John!" a familiar voice called out.

John smiled at the sound of his friend. His eyes slowly adjusted and Elizabeth's relieved face came into focus.

"John, Thank God! Hold on, we'll have you out in a few moments! Are you hurt?" Elizabeth called.

"I feel like a building fell on me. But I've been worse," John answered. He couldn't remember being more glad to see her. "What about Teyla?"

"I'm sorry John", Elizabeth called down to him, "After the baby was born, Michael had no more need for her. He killed her. If we hadn't been delayed coming to rescue you, we would have been able to save her. You should have seen this coming. It's your fault."

He could hear that familiar scolding tone she took on when he had screwed up.

"John! Are you listening?" The words seem to echo around the debris. "Are you listening? Sheppard!"

John's head jerked up. He blinked his eyes back into focus. The same chunks of concrete swam back into view.

"Sheppard!" Ronon gently nudged John's shoulder. "You still with me, Buddy?"

John's eyes widened with the burning pain in his side. He tried to take a deep breath, but the beam across his chest wouldn't let him. He settled for several quick, shallow puffs.

"Yeah," John croaked out. John blinked again, but he couldn't seem to clear the fog out of his eyes. He was exhausted from fighting down the searing pain in his side. The compression bandage had slowed the bleeding, but not stopped it. He wondered how much blood he had lost. He felt very weak.

"I'm not going to last much longer," he thought to himself.

All he wanted to do was close his eyes again. Just for a couple of minutes. But he knew he had one more thing to do before he could rest again.

"Ronan," his voice was a hoarse whisper, "it's time buddy."

"Time for what?" Ronan was moving around the debris like a caged animal. The nervous movements were making it hard for John to focus on what he was going to say next.

"It's time you started digging to the surface," John pause to gasp a couple of painful breathes.

"No way." Ronon answered.

"Ronon…"

Ronon cut him off, "If things were reversed, and I was the one under that beam, would you leave me?"

"Yes!" John tried to answer with as much conviction as he could choke out through the pain. "Ronon," he started gently, "this thing isn't moving. You've got to get out of here."

"What, are you giving up on me buddy? That's not part of the deal," Ronon tried vainly to sound cheerful.

"Yes, I mean no." John could hardly keep his eyes open. He concentrated on breathing for a few seconds. Taking as deep a breath as he could manage, John said, "Teyla… You have to get Tayla."

Ronon could only stare at John, begging with his eyes not to force him to choose between the two.

But John would not relent. There was no hope that they were going to free him without help, and John was damned if he was going to let Ronon die with him.

"Hey! Do you hear that sound?" Ronon suddenly said.

"What?" John asked, discouraged that Ronon had found another way to argue with him.

"That's the sound of digging!" said Ronon.

"Yeah!" said John, and he listened harder.

"And you were going to give up!" Ronon said. Triumph was mixed with relief in his voice.

_(OK, you remember the rest from the show. Pick up again when they are waiting for the Hybrids to dig through the rubble.)_

Pointing the gun above his head in the direction of the digging sounds caused John's side to protest. His hand started shaking so badly that he doubted that he would hit anything. But he didn't care. If he could give Rolon the slightest chance of getting out of this, he was going to do it. His vision blurred as a jolt of pain shot through him. He just hoped he could hang on long enough to do it.

He glanced at his friend, "Hey, it's been good knowing you"

Rolon snuck a meaningful look back, "Yeah, same here."

With a loud scrape of concrete against concrete, a hole opened up directly in line with their guns.

"Here we go," John thought grimly. But before he could squeeze the trigger, he felt the unmistakable tingling of the transporter grab hold of him.

When they materialized on the floor of the infirmary, the chunks of concrete that had been supporting them did not, and both men landed heavily on the floor. A hoarse cry of pain escaped from between John's clenched teeth. Dr. Keller and several medics rushed to their sides. But before anyone could touch them, Rolon quickly scooped John off the floor and gently deposited his limp form on the nearest bed.

The room was dark and dank as was typical of a hive ship. The Wriath must have had better night vision than humans because they never seemed to need much light. Adding to the oppressive atmosphere was the pervasive smell, which always reminded of Teyla of food just past its prime.

Sweat drenched her forehead and she clenched her teeth as another contraction gripped her. Involuntarily she strained against the restraints that held her wrists and ankles firmly to the bed she was lying on. She was forced up in a semi sitting position with her legs up in preparation for the baby to come. A swoosh of the door and Michael came striding in.

"Excellent!" he growled in his half human, half Wraith voice. "The baby is in excellent health."

"You.. stay away…from my baby!" Teyla gasped out between contractions.

With a final tremendous scream of frustration and anguish, Teyla gave birth to her baby.

Michael held the baby up like a sacrifice to the Gods. "You did well Teyla. Your baby is a fine specimen. Everything is going just as I planned."

Teyla strained towards Michael and her baby. "John! Why didn't you come? John?" She pleaded.

Michael laughed harshly. "Your faith was ill placed. He was never coming!" The laughter continued to echo around the chamber.

"John!" Teyla's voice was changing in pitch, getting higher. "Colonel Sheppard!"

John blinked against the bright lights.

"Teyla?" he looked around confused. Pain burning in his side suddenly brought him back to the infirmary on the Pegasus.

"Colonel Sheppard, I need you to lie still."

He winced again as she dabbed at the gash in his side.

"How does it look?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"You're going to live to fight another day, and all that." Dr Keller answered.

"That's great, John grunted, "Can you do something quick to get me back on my feet? I need to get out there."

"No! You need a lot of work. You've lost a lot of blood. You need a transfusion and surgery, and, and, I'm sorry. You're relieved of duty" She turned to walk away. A painful grip on her forearm stopped her in her tracks.

"You don't understand."

The force of his grip on her arm caused her to hesitate, but she still started to protest, "I'm sorry…." But when she looked up from his hand on her arm into his face, the intensity of his gaze stopped her again. Even though he was pale and shaking, his eyes were burning with determination.

"I had the chance to get one of my team out once before…" he paused to suck in a shuttering breath, "I'm not going to let it slip through my fingers again."

"No!" her brain protested, "You'll die! I'm a doctor, I can't let you die."

But, he stared at her with such conviction that she believed him. Believed in her heart that he could just hop off this table, snatch Teyla off of that Hive ship, and come back in time for her to patch him up. Her words from the Jumper echoed in her head "We're so close!"

In a daze she felt herself slowly nod. She watched as her hands quickly stitch the wound closed, and then injected John with a pain reliever and a stimulant. All the while her brain protested that this was wrong. That she should be getting him ready for surgery, not a rescue mission. But, she could not stop. What if she could save both of them? Both Teyla and John. And so she stood mutely, filled with dread, and watching him don a clean shirt and leave the infirmary.

"Bring her back," her heart whispered, while her brain wondered if she had just lost both of them.

_(Again you know the rest. Pick up again in the Hive ship just after they discover the Jumper missing.)_

As they ran through the dark, dank hallways of the Hive ship, John was breathing hard and sweat was pouring down his face. Around every corner there were Wraith, and the sound of weapons fire was constant. Adrenaline was screaming through his veins as he ran, aimed, and shot, ran, aimed and shot. Ahead of him Kannan was doing the same, shooting down Wraith, one after another. Ronon was grunting with the effort of carrying Tayla, and the frustration of not being able to fire his weapon. In the rear, John could hear Rodney's constant stream of fear induced babble punctuated by cries of out right terror. But all of this was background noise, to the John's growing sense of dread. Around every bend, John expected Kannan to betray the group to Michael. He desperately hoped that he was right to trust Kannan.

Where was the dart launch bay? It seemed like they had been running forever. John's legs were beginning to feel like lead and he had to grit his teeth against the growing pain in his side. They rounded a bend and finally burst into the bay.

Kannan ran to a control panel and began to prepare a Dart for launch. Rolon gently placed Teyla on the ground a few yards from the dart. Rodney worked the controls of the door to seal the entrance to the launch bay. He then turned to John who had quietly slide down the wall to a sitting position.

"What are we doing here?" Rodney asked in a panic, "How are all of us going to fly out of here in a Dart? There is room only for a pilot. I don't know how to pilot one of those things!"

"Rodney!" John forced out between clenched teeth, "I'll put all of you in the Dart storage, and fly us to safety!"

"Oh, yeah. Good idea." Rodney licked his lips nervously. "Oh God. I hate being stored in those things. I always wonder if all of me will be restored. I mean I always wonder what kind of damage is being done to my brain on a sub atomic level."

John hardly heard him. Blood was pounding in his ears and he was pressing his side in a vain attempt to reduce the pain.

"It's ready. Come! Quickly!" Kannan gestured at them.

Rodney jumped up and then looked back.

"Well, come on Sheppard! Let's go! What are you waiting for?"

Then realizing the problem, ran back to John's side.

"Here, I'll help you up!"

"Rodney!" John gasped.

"What?" Rodney was tugging at John's shoulders trying to get him to stand up.

"My…" John could not get the words out, but gestured at his left breast pocket.

"What?" Rodney repeated dumbly as he fumbled with the pocket. He pulled out a hypospray. "What's this? Oh! You want me to inject you with this?"

John nodded impatiently.

As the morphine and adrenaline cocktail spread through his veins, he drew a deep breath. Now Rodney was able to help John to his feet and they both headed for the Dart.

John eased himself into the pilot's seat and surveyed the controls. Rodney and Kannan joined Rolon and Teyla, bracing themselves to be stored.

"Wait!" Teyla grasped Rolon's arm. "Not the baby. Please."

Rolon took the baby and quickly vaulted up onto the wing of the Dart. Before John could protest, Rolon placed the baby in John's arms, and returned to the others. For a moment John could do nothing but stare at the warm, little bundle cradled in his arms. Then he pulled himself back to the task at hand and started activating the Dart's systems.

_(Again, you know what happens next. Pick up again at the Gate on the planet.)_

John touched several symbols on the screen and was relieved to see his friends materialize on the planet surface below him. He circled around and landed the Dart a safe distance from them.

As he powered down the Dart, he looked down at the baby in his arms. He was amazed at how small it was, and yet it was perfectly formed.

"It has Teyla's eyes," he thought to himself, "her beautiful, compassionate eyes." He shook his head, "What am I thinking?"

The baby shifted in its sleep and John could not resist caressing its cheek with his finger. As the sight of the baby melted his heart, he felt the last of his strength melt with it. He knew he should get up and join the others but he did not move. Instead, he wearily waited for Ronon to jump up onto the Dart's wing.

Ronon's frown deepened when he saw John, but without a word, Ronon scooped up the baby. Even after helping them escape, Ronon still could not shake his mistrust of Kannan. Deliberately, he handed the baby to a stunned McKay. Reluctantly, he gestured gruffly to Kannan.

"Help her," he grunted. Then he returned to the Dart.

"Come on Sheppard," he said gently, "we're almost there."

When John continued to stare into space at the crook of his arm where the baby had lain, Ronon grasped him under his arms and hoisted him up.

"Argh! Whoa," John grumbled feebly, "I'm OK."

"Sure you are," Ronan grunted as he lowered John to the ground. Allowing John to lean heavily on him, they made their way to the gate.

John squinted into the darkness of the infirmary. A noise had woken him. Instinctively, he refrained from speaking. Something was wrong. Then he smelt him before he saw him. All Wraith had a distinctive odor. A shadow materialized into a dark form.

Michael! How had he gotten in here?

John's hand shifted reflectively to his holster, but his hand found nothing but hospital bed sheets.

As Michael moved into the light, John saw that he was holding something in his arms. Teyla's baby!

"Did you really think that I would leave it behind?" Michael growled. "It is critical to my plans."

Then Michael turned and left. John's hand came up wanting to stop them. But he couldn't. He was too weak to move. "NO!"

"John," the voice was gentle and soothing, "John."

John blinked in confusion. The ceiling of the Atlantis infirmary slowly came into focus. He glanced in the direction of the voice to see Teyla smiling reassuringly at him.

Teyla. And her baby! Slowly his brain separated his dreams from reality.

"It is good to see you finally awake," Teyla said gently.

Awake? Still groggy from the drugs, he was having trouble keeping up. Shifting a little in the bed, he realized that instead of a jarring pain, his side only ached. He must be out of surgery. Judging from the dim lighting, it was night time. How long had he been out?

He brought his attention back to her. She was sitting with the baby sleeping peacefully in her arms. She was so close that he could smell the Athosian soap that she liked to use.

"Dr. Keller told me what happened. You should never have attempted a rescue in your condition," she gently scolded him.

"Attempted?" he feigned indignation, "If I remember correctly, I succeeded."

Teyla smiled, glad to hear him joking like his usual self.

"I have not had a chance to properly thank you," she said.

John stared at her. It was the same thing she had said in his dream. The dim, night time lighting of the Infirmary cast odd shadows on her face. The shadows were similar to those cast by the candles in his dream. Her eyes shone and her face seemed to glow in the light of the medical monitors.

"She is so beautiful," he thought to himself, "Just like in my dream."

As if in a dream, he heard himself answer "You would have done the same."

"Yes, I would have. I knew you would come, John. I never lost faith." Her gaze was open and full of affection.

John could not stop staring at her. He was mesmerized by her beauty. He found himself wanting to reach out and caress her face. Feel it's warmth in his hand. But instead, he watched her looked down at her baby with unabashed happiness. Kannan's baby. The realization jolted him back to the present.

To hide his discomfort, he quickly asked, "How's the kid?"

"Dr. Keller tells me he is perfectly healthy," she answered proudly, "But I say he is perfectly everything."

"That's great." John closed his eyes to rest for a second. He was confused. What was he thinking? To keep her talking he asked, "Have you picked out a name?"

"Actually, I want to name him Torron John. Torron for my father. And John for you."

John's eyes flew open. He turned to look at her. "Really?" He blurted out.

He was not sure he had heard correctly. Shouldn't she be naming the baby after Kannan? The morphine, and her perfume were causing his head to swim.

All he could think of to say was "Rodney is going to be really pissed."

Teyla laughed that wonderful, clear laugh of hers.

Hearing her laugh caused John to smile. Finally, John gathered himself together, "I would be very honored," he said sincerely.

"So it is settled," Tayla grinned broadly, "Torron John Emmagan."

John lay back in his pillow and frowned slightly at the ceiling. "Yeah," he mumbled, "It's all settled."

_(OK. That's it. I appreciate you taking the time to read this.)_


End file.
